Larson: 'I wasn't confused'

A week after Commissioner Lynn Larson told The Longboat Observer it wasn’t clear to her that the mayor was ending the meeting after she voted in favor of a redevelopment plan the club said it will not build, Larson defended her vote and actions.

Said Larson: “I wasn’t confused. I was voting on an ordinance prepared by staff and our attorneys to move the project forward and to allow additional variances from the current code. I was disappointed and surprised the meeting ended abruptly when the statement had been made we would continue after a lunch break until 3:45 p.m. I expected amendments to the ordinance to be proposed and a compromise to be reached later that afternoon. Further negotiation was needed, and further negotiation is now continuing. I am very optimistic that something good will come out of the decision that was made on June 14 to move the project along in some form to a second reading.”

Larson said she would consider drafting an amendment to the ordinance she voted for on first reading at the end of the week with town attorney David Persson.

But Larson, a mediator, said she hopes the project can be approved in some form on Monday, June 28, and the hearing is not extended to 9 a.m., Wednesday, June 30.

Said Larson: “I’m confident a resolution can be reached Monday. Everyone’s tired of this hearing being extended and extended.”

Other commissioners reached this week said they are not working with Persson at this time to craft amendments before the hearing begins 5:01 p.m. Monday, June 28, at Temple Beth Israel.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].